VW Has Sold A Golf Every 41 Seconds Since 1974

It’s time to bake a cake and detonate some party poppers: as of 29 March 2019, the VW Golf is 45 years old. On this day in 1974, production of the hugely popular hatchback started at Wolfsburg, where it’s still assembled in its latest guise.

Since 1974, 35 million units have been shifted globally. VW has crunched the numbers, and this equates to a new Golf being sold every 41 seconds since its introduction. On average, 780,000 have been ordered every year.

This is a big year for the Golf, with the Mk8 due to be revealed in the coming months, before going on sale in 2020. Judging by spy shots it’s not going to look drastically different to the facelifted seventh-generation model, but it’ll be packing lots of new tech including a range of mild hybrid powertrains.

There will indeed be a GTI version, continuing a hot hatch dynasty kicked off by the first hot Golf, which debuted just a year after the standard Mk1.

Speaking about the 45th anniversary of the Golf, VW COO Ralf Brandstätter said:

“The Golf is at the very heart of our brand. It stands for progress and technology like no other car…the Golf made safety technology affordable for millions of people for the first time. Thanks to this, it made its mark on an entire generation.”

Has the Golf made its mark on you somehow? Let us know in the comments.